


What the Cat Dragged In

by CanadianSummer



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Tim's beat up, and drunk, budding friendship, he's a very mopey drunk, odd character interaction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-06 22:21:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6772600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanadianSummer/pseuds/CanadianSummer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Tales AU. </p><p>Fiona isn't prone to taking people home with her. Yet, when she finds a drunk and bleeding Timothy Lawrence during a stroll in Hollow Point, she decides to help him out because of a previous interaction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What the Cat Dragged In

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so a little strange character interaction, but I live for this stuff. Plus, this idea wouldn't leave me be. 
> 
> A heads up that I am currently computerless, which is why Slow Down hasn't been updated in a while. I wrote this all on my phone and I've edited it all to the best of my ability. However, I'm sorry if some of it reads oddly or I missed some typos. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. I had fun writing it. Lol

One thing Fiona liked about Hollow Point was it's tendency to hide adventure.

You never knew what could be waiting in the alleyways and shadows of the rundown town. From abandoned loot crates to a group of Psychos, there was always some sort of adventure to be found.

Heeled boots walked along the street back towards the small house that she shared with Sasha. It wasn't much, the house was just about as rundown as the rest of the town, but she could admit that it was better than staying in Felix's apartment or the caravan. It was the least she could do for her sister, help her figure out what she's doing. Fiona wouldn't blame her for returning back to conning, not that she wouldn't hate seeing that for her sister, though. Yet, Sasha had said a number of times that she wanted to leave Pandora, she figured that was the plan once she got her stuff sorted out.

Something was still keeping her there, though. Fiona could tell, yet she just couldn't put her finger--

Immediately, Fiona was forcefully pulled from her thoughts when she felt her ankle snag on something. Embarrassingly, she almost fell as she stumbled, quickly trying to right herself. She turned back around, seeing that she had not tripped over something, it was more like some _one_.

"Hey, if..." she started, the quip she had dying on her tongue as she got a good look at the guy she had almost tripped over.

He...well, he looked like shit. There was really no other way to put it, various cuts on his face leaking blood, some dried, some still open. One of his eyes looked well on its way to being swollen shut, the gaze in them glossy with tears or he was just drunk. Maybe both.

Yet, as she met his gaze, a sense of familiarity seemed to wash over her. For a few moments, she was thrown back into the badlands, a bandit camp in front of her. Really, it wasn't much. Still, for one person, if she took it down, it would have been impressive. The loot probably wasn't as impressive though, considering how few bandits there were in the camp--and it wasn't. A couple hundred bucks and a pistol that she didn't even take in the end. The bandits seemed to be more excited that they were being shot at than defending that, so she should have expected as much.

Yet, as she saw her opportunity and took it, Fiona had found herself a little overwhelmed. She could hold her own, no doubt, and it wasn't like she was just carrying around that sleeve pistol anymore. Still, she found herself cornered, bullets embedding themselves in the thick metal sheet she took cover behind, bullets running low. She had turned to take her last shots when bandits started dropping like flies, heads flashing blood from bullets she hadn't shot. Deciding to take the cover offered, she dove for ammunition and continued shooting. After a while, the camp was still, bodies littering the ground and, honestly, Fiona could admit that things had been...a little tense.

Yet, as she was picking up loot that was dropped from the fight, another person showed up on the scene. She could only assume that it was the same person who helped her out, yet when she glanced up took look at them, she was pretty damn quick to draw a weapon. Her pistol flicked out of her sleeve with a familiar metallic click, the stranger's eyes widening somewhat at her reaction.

She may have never met him personally, yet Fiona was pretty sure she could recognize Handsome Jack when she saw him. Yet, the lookalike seemed pretty quick to raise his hands. Said he wanted no fight, that he wasn't who she thought he was. Turns out, he was just a Vault Hunter like she was, said he used to be a body double.

What was his name again? Timothy, right.

He had seemed pretty damn composed back then, yet Fiona had no idea the next time she would meet him would have been at the edge of an alleyway, looking like he just had the shit kicked out of him. She hadn't been expecting him to see him again at all, actually.

"Shit," he hissed as the same recognition seemed to cross his face, Timothy moving to cover his face as best he could.

"That's an impressive shiner you got there," she commented, a hand moving up to her hip. Wow, did that ever sound insensitive. The look she got in return pretty much confirmed it. "Sorry."

"Just...leave me alone."

"What happened?"

"I got beat up, what's it _look like?_ " he retorted, his words somewhat slurred together. Fiona raised a scarred brow, watching as Timothy seemed to go back to hiding his face.

He had good reason to, she figured. She didn't need to ask why, she figured asking stupid questions wouldn't have helped the situation any. Normally, she would have just left it at that and continued on her way. Finding beaten and drunk people in alleyways wasn't uncommon in Hollow Point.

Yet, he had pretty much saved her ass back at the camp. As much as she would hate to admit it, she would feel bad for leaving him like this.

"Alright," she said, extending her hand, "I don't normally do this, but if you're going to wallow about...whatever happened here, you could at least do it in a semi-comfortable chair with the blood washed off your face. Consider this me repaying the favor for the bandit camp."

"...You're not exactly making me feel better."

"I said it as nicely as I could."

Fiona flexed her fingers a little bit, giving him a few more seconds before she would let him be. Timothy seemed to study her, or, at least, as well as he could in his current state before he took her offered hand, Fiona helping to haul him to his feet.

As it turned out, he was a little more drunk than she had been thinking previously, his weight shifting into her almost immediately after he was standing, her arm going around his waist as he tried to steady himself.

"Sorry..." he muttered, the apology probably would have gone unheard had Fiona not been basically pressed up against his side.

"You just focus on putting one foot in front of the other," she replied, hoisting his left arm over her shoulder to help steady him a little better.

Oh, Sasha was going to love this.

 

  
Fiona really couldn't blame her sister for the look on her face when she pushed open the door. It was getting on in the evening and there she was, practically dragging a drunk stranger into their home, who happened to look like the dead tyrant that almost destroyed the planet.

She shot her a quick smile, borderline pleading as she adjusted Timothy a little more.

"Who the hell--?" Sasha started as Fiona pulled him inside all the way, leading him towards one of the chairs at the table.

"I'll explain," Fiona replied as Timothy plunked himself down in the chair, "You think you could find some medical stuff around here?"

"Yeah, I'll see if I can find the box," Sasha muttered, her suspicious gaze not leaving the former body double for a few moments, Timothy not looking directly at her, though Fiona could tell he could feel her watching.

She knew an anxious posture when she saw one, his hands clenched together on the tabletop. However, Sasha wandered off to find the box she had mentioned after a few moments, Fiona giving Timothy a smirk once she did.

"She's a little intense, but she'll grow on you," she commented.

"I can tell you two share the same bedside manner," he muttered, letting his head drop down into his folded arms.

"Hers is worse," Fiona quipped, "You should sit up, you'll get sick."

"I already feel it," he replied, his voice muffled by the table and his arms. Yet, he seemed to take her advice as he sat up, leaning back to study the patterns on the surface of the worn table.

"You think I could just drink in peace around here, but _no_..." he continued, almost glaring down at the table.

"In Hollow Point? You're lucky someone just hit your face."

"S'got a bomb."

"What?"

"My face."

"...I'm going to see if I can find something to sober you up a little," Fiona said after a moment of silence, rising from the table. She didn't hear a refusal from him, at least.

Coffee was the best she could do at the moment, even it didn't do anything to help with the drunkenness. Sasha returned as she started to make the drink, her sister placing the box down beside her on the counter, her gaze flickering between Fiona and Timothy for a few moments, who had returned back to having his head in his arms.

"Y'know, I have to give you credit. At least you bring home interesting drunks."

"What can I say? Go hard or go home."

"Who is he?"

"Timothy," Fiona replied, "Former body double of Handsome Jack."

"Okay..." Sasha said, not raising her voice above a whisper, "I thought that whole thing was done with...I don't know, holograms or something."

"I was the first. Got all of this done before the jackass figured out that he didn't need cosmetic surgery to get his doubles," Timothy replied, lifting his head up again, "You can at least not talk about me like I'm not here."

Sasha crossed her arms, seeming like she was going to get defensive, yet she just shook her head. "I'm sorry. It's just..."

"Yeah, I understand. Believe me, I do."

Fiona glanced at Sasha again, her sister pushing the box towards her.

"I'll watch the coffee."

Fiona gave her a nod, picking up the box and headed back over to the table. Turns out, there wasn't much in the box to begin with, some cloth and bandages, some thread. Though, upon looking over his face again, nothing appeared to need stitches. She pushed the box towards him, Timothy, thankfully, seemed sober enough to understand what he needed to do.

"I couldn't find anything to help with the swelling," Sasha said as she placed a cup of coffee down in front of him, taking the vacant seat next to Fiona, much to the noticeable discomfort of their "guest".

"It's...fine," Timothy replied between a small hiss as he swiped at a wound on his forehead, before continuing in a rushed tune, "That you couldn't find anything, not that my eye is..."

"Yeah, I figured," Sasha replied, Fiona catching a tiny hint of amusement to her voice.

"So, what are you doing in Hollow Point?" Fiona asked, shifting in her seat so she was a little more relaxed, "Not that it isn't a _wonderful_ town with rich culture, but I probably would have noticed you before if you live here."

"Was too far out to go anywhere else," he said with a shrug, "Thought I'd just blend in and drink. I was nervous, so I just...kept going. Of course, _my life sucks_ and a few people thought it would be _fun_ to beat up a former body double. I mean, I can't blame them, Hyperion has ruined my life just as much. Thought I'd just _ride it out_ , never thought the freakin' procedure would be _irreversible_!"

The two sisters listened as he ranted, Timothy starting off sounding as calm as he could, and only grew more and more rushed as he continued, his words quick and slurred, Fiona and Sasha glancing at each other out of the corner of their eyes as he ended, sounding like he was close to crying.

It was...pretty sad, actually.

Pity was...difficult to deal with, Fiona was pretty sure Sasha knew how to deal with it just as well as she did, which was to just grow awkward and change the subject.

Which basically went as she expected.

"You know, you remind me of someone," Sasha started, pausing at the narrow-eyed gaze she got from Timothy, "I mean, not in the obvious way-- _crap_ , I meant that you remind me of a friend of mine."

"Think they would get along?" Fiona prompted, eyebrow raised. Considering everything Rhys went through with Handsome Jack, as much as the two of them were left in the dark about that stuff, Fiona figured he'd want to avoid any reminders.

"I...don't know, actually," Sasha admitted, "I think I'm going to go to bed. You got this, Fi?"

"Yeah," Fiona said with a quick nod, Sasha rising from her seat and headed towards the back of the small house.

"Wow, I think you flustered my sister. That's a first," she commented once she was out of ear shot.

"Oh, I didn't mean to--I should go apologize--"

"She's fine. Don't fall out of the chair, I don't want to pick you up off the floor."

"I'm not _that_ drunk."

"I don't know, nothing you've done has proven to me otherwise."

Timothy didn't reply, seeming to accept that as he placed the bloodied cloth down on the table, looking at the coffee in front of him with some hesitance.

"I...feel sick, I don't want to drink that right now," he said, Fiona shrugging before she pulled the cup towards herself.

"I can pull you to the bathroom, if you want."

"No, I'm good," Timothy replied, letting out a small breath, "Um...thanks. Considering what this town offered me tonight, this was...really nice of you. And your...sister?"

"Yeah. And I figured I'd pay back the debt," Fiona said with a shrug, "I mean, not in the same way you did, but..."

"You owed me nothing," Timothy said, waving his hand slightly, "I'm not that cruel. You were cornered, probably would have died..."

"It wasn't _that_ bad."

"You were cowering behind scrap metal."

"I had it handled. I've been in worse situations before."

Timothy didn't reply, blinking slowly as he sighed, rubbing his good eye. "I thought things would be better by now. Handsome Jack is dead, Helios is gone, and somehow he's still kicking the shit outta me."

"Everybody in Hollow Point gets beat up," Fiona said after a few moments, almost cringing as the situation seemed to hit her, "I mean...someone found a _"reasonable"_ excuse with you, but if you didn't look...the way you do, someone probably would have given you a hard time because you were new, or you looked at them funny, or your shirt was stupid. It's nothing really new around here."

"How do you even _live_ here, then?"

"You do what you have to, I guess."

She certainly wasn't getting into the details with him.

Fiona sighed, rubbing at her own eyes. "If you want to sleep this off, I'm sure Sasha won't mind if she finds you here in the morning. I can find something to prop your head on if you want to sleep in the booth. It's not a bed, but it's comfy for a night at least. Right near that bathroom, too, so..."

"I...thanks. Seriously."

"Don't make this a habit..." she paused, brushing some hair from her face, "and you're welcome."

 


End file.
